Makro online shop has big plans

The previous Makro online store's after-sales, via WantItAll, was a disgrace. I bought a laptop like that and had endless hassles getting Lenovo to accept the WantItAll/MakroShop invoice as a proof of purchase purely because of the lack of information about the laptop (Lenovo Laptop - R6999, thats all). WantItAll were not willing to help as they were, quote, "Only the online storefront for the Woodmead Makro branch" and any queries about the product need to be taken up with Makro themselves.

Hopefully things have improved.
 
2 to 5 day delivery time is not good enough for a shop with Makro's DC and store footprint.

It should be Same Day for order before say 10am, and next day for anything after that.....
 
lived666 said:
Sadly not yet.

Insane delivery prices. was going to order some electrical stuff, order came to around R500, delivery extra R260 - erm, no thank you!!
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Just play around with the deliver address, specifically suburbs. Got it down to R75 from R240...
 
I hope wantitall don't have even the remotest shadow of an effect on the prices, because we all know where that will end up.
 
Was looking at buying something from the Makro Online store, but after seeing the delivery charges I decided to go with DionWired instead as delivery was free, albeit still taking 2 -3 working days, which I have no problem with.
 
Just give us amazon.co.za already, preferably with prime.

It surprises me that the only thing we got out of the Walmart purchase was over priced food....
 
If makro wants to sell groceries then they must allow you to book time slots for delivery.
 
Last edited:
Stay clear of anything even remotely linked to Wantitall.
 
FaSMaN said:
Just give us amazon.co.za already, preferably with prime.

It surprises me that the only thing we got out of the Walmart purchase was over priced food....
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The problem is, if Amazon comes to SA I guarantee you it will be some half-arsed partnership with local incompetent ****wits (like the SA version of Expansys used to be) and be just another terrible, overpriced online shop.

Much like what happened with Walmart - most people thought it would mean massive competition, lower prices, rebranding, change, YES WE CAN, etc. Instead what we got was exactly what I predicted, an extra Makro leaflet with a Walmart logo on, and yes, overpriced food.
 
TJ99 said:
The problem is, if Amazon comes to SA I guarantee you it will be some half-arsed partnership with local incompetent ****wits (like the SA version of Expansys used to be) and be just another terrible, overpriced online shop.

Much like what happened with Walmart - most people thought it would mean massive competition, lower prices, rebranding, change, YES WE CAN, etc. Instead what we got was exactly what I predicted, an extra Makro leaflet with a Walmart logo on, and yes, overpriced food.
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Agreed 100%
 
TJ99 said:
The problem is, if Amazon comes to SA I guarantee you it will be some half-arsed partnership with local incompetent ****wits (like the SA version of Expansys used to be) and be just another terrible, overpriced online shop.
Click to expand...

It's a pity Amazon cut off Takealot - it was a fairly simple and affordable way of getting products from the US/UK.
I can handle the import duties and VAT but it's the shipping charges which usually make the deal not worth it.
This is where a bulk importer would make sense. You collate items at the source and then courier/surface ship in bulk to cut down on shipping costs. Then you pass some of the savings on to your customer and you pocket the rest.

e.g.
I want to purchase an item from the USA because there are no local distributors in SA.
Amazon item cost: $299 (20kg)
Shipping via MyUS: $217 (no suppliers shipping directly to SA and surface is not an option with all the thieves in the SAPO system)
The above is for a fairly heavy and bulky item - the shipping charges are usually more than the value of item for smaller packages.

With regards to Makro:
They are my first online stop for home and DIY because I like to source and price things online and then quickly pop into a store to make my purchase.
So although some people don't purchase online, their web site definitely gets used by the walk-in types such as myself to gather pricing and promotional offers.

Builders Warehouse sees less and less of me these days because I don't have the time and money for 15 minute phone calls just to get the price of an item and find out stock availability.
 
Last couple of times I checked stock online it was a failure.

The first time it said their one branch has stock, but there was none when I went there. The second time it said they had no stock, but when I went there they did have stock. :erm:
 
Whats with all these companies and their huge plans? Why don't they just get on and do it properly and quietly instead of farting hot air in all directions. And achieving f-all.
 
Given up buying from makro - every second thing is broken or repackaged used product.
 
TJ99 said:
The problem is, if Amazon comes to SA I guarantee you it will be some half-arsed partnership with local incompetent ****wits (like the SA version of Expansys used to be) and be just another terrible, overpriced online shop.

Much like what happened with Walmart - most people thought it would mean massive competition, lower prices, rebranding, change, YES WE CAN, etc. Instead what we got was exactly what I predicted, an extra Makro leaflet with a Walmart logo on, and yes, overpriced food.
Click to expand...

Nah, Amazon won't partner with a local entity in regard with a local shop, distribution however is another story as they have close ties with Kalahari, interesting how they dropped Takealot being Kalahari's largest competitor in SA. Takealot is only not the only company they dropped in SA.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
Nah, Amazon won't partner with a local entity in regard with a local shop, distribution however is another story as they have close ties with Kalahari, interesting how they dropped Takealot being Kalahari's largest competitor in SA. Takealot is only not the only company they dropped in SA.
Click to expand...

Distribution is the important part, and what makes Amazon so great in the US and Europe. Any moron can run a website, but actually getting the products to customers quickly, efficiently and cheaply is the hard part, as well as handling returns - another thing Amazon is brilliant at. Kalahari is good by SA standards but they have nothing like Amazon's same day delivery etc and, strangely they have only one warehouse. And it's in the arse end corner of the country. Everything has to be transported from Kuip Town instead of being centrally located or having multiple locations.
 
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